Community Corner

Weinberg Plans to Question Port Authority About GWB Lane Closures

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg plans to attend a public meeting of the Port Authority’s Ethics and Governance Committee Monday in an effort to find out why Fort Lee officials were not alerted before the agency shut down two access lanes to the George Washington Bridge last month.

Weinberg told the Star-Ledger she will seek to find out who approved the closures, leading to major traffic delays around Fort Lee. Publicly, the Port Authority has only said that the lanes were blocked in a traffic study.


An internal e-mail from the agency’s Executive Director, Patrick Foye, revealed that Port Authority police and traffic engineering officials were also not informed of the changes, according to the Wall Street Journal, which obtained the sharply-worded message. The Wall Street Journal’s report also cited unnamed sources who said no traffic study was ever carried out.

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Foye, who was appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, wrote that the closures likely violated the law and put lives at risk.


Weinberg told the Star-Ledger she had trouble believing the lane closures were politically-motivated, but will seek answers.

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The Port Authority meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the agency’s Technical Center in Jersey City.


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